Friends of Nairobi National Park
Lions still roam at the edge of this city.
Nairobi National Park is the only park on Earth bordering a capital city. FoNNaP works alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service to keep it wild, forever.
1946
Year the park was gazetted — Kenya's oldest
1995
Year Friends of Nairobi National Park was founded
29,000
Acres of savanna, forest and wetland
500+
Bird species recorded, among Kenya's highest counts
Friends of Nairobi National Park
Founded in 1995, FoNNaP supports the Kenya Wildlife Service in protecting Nairobi National Park and the wider ecosystem it belongs to. We work alongside KWS and the communities living next to the park, running conservation projects that keep this habitat healthy for the wildlife that depends on it.
South of the park, the Athi Kapiti Plains, Kitengela, Isinya, Kipeto and the Kapiti ranches, have come under growing pressure in recent years. We're working with other conservation and community groups to reopen the wet season migration routes wildlife has used for generations, easing human wildlife conflict and giving the park's animals room to move.
FoNNaP is a registered non-profit membership society under Kenya's Societies Act.
Why We're Here
Our vision & mission
Vision
"A city that never loses its wild heart."
A Nairobi where lions, rhinos and giraffes still roam beside the city, and where the park remains forever wild for every generation to come.
Mission
"Standing with those who protect the park."
We support the Kenya Wildlife Service in safeguarding Nairobi National Park, working with communities and partners to keep its biodiversity thriving for the long term.
Protecting the world's greatest city park
🌳
Protecting the world's greatest city park 🌳
What We Do
Ways we protect the park
Save Nairobi National Park Campaign
Save Nairobi National Park Campaign
The SaveNNP Campaign is a volunteer-led campaign spearheaded by FoNNaP that seeks to ensure that Nairobi National Park is protected and remains to serve its original purpose as a biodiversity conservation asset. The campaign was started at a time when different government projects were either planned or implemented inside Nairobi National Park.
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Through the support of a consortium of partners, the campaign continues to remain committed to its course and is engaging different strategies with the Kenya Wildlife Service, the communities living south of the park, and other stakeholders, to better conserve Nairobi National Park and its larger ecosystem.
Past Engagements
The Southern Bypass
Members of FoNNaP instituted legal action against relevant authorities against the construction of the Southern Bypass through Nairobi National Park.Campaigns against the SGR Across NNP
The SaveNNP Campaign led the Reroute the SGR Campaigns, which advocated for the realignment of the Standard Gauge railway away from Nairobi National Park. It planned and executed a series of peaceful protests and legal actions against the SGR passing through Nairobi National Park. Despite the railway having been built through the park, our actions helped elevate the railway throughout the park allowing wildlife and visitors to pass unimpeded beneath the tracks..Campaign Against the Nairobi Animal Orphanage Development
Nairobi National Park is facing a proposed Animal Orphanage and parking lot development that would turn protected habitat into a commercial zone. FoNNaP has filed a legal petition challenging it, citing lost wildlife habitat, a poorly done Environmental Impact Assessment, and a breach of the area's protected status. Over 4,600 Kenyans have joined as co-petitioners.
Current Engagements
The SaveNNP Campaign is currently working closely with different partners and the Kenya Wildlife Service to align the proposed Nairobi National Park Management Plan towards measures that protect biodiversity both inside and outside the Park while encouraging sustainable tourism.The campaign regularly takes action against ongoing threats to the park, such as monitoring and reporting incidents of pollution.
Research Activities
Research Activities
FoNNaP is in the process of establishing a research wing that conducts research on various issues concerning the park and provides possible solutions both within and within the bordering ecosystem. The process will be done through collaborations with learning institutions and research and publishing collaborations. The Nairobi National Park animal trends over the years, as determined from the game count activities, can be accessed in our members’ section.
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Through the support of a consortium of partners, the campaign continues to remain committed to its course and is engaging different strategies with the Kenya Wildlife Service, the communities living south of the park, and other stakeholders, to better conserve Nairobi National Park and its larger ecosystem.
Past Engagements
The Southern Bypass
Members of FoNNaP instituted legal action against relevant authorities against the construction of the Southern Bypass through Nairobi National Park.Campaigns against the SGR Across NNP
The SaveNNP Campaign led the Reroute the SGR Campaigns, which advocated for the realignment of the Standard Gauge railway away from Nairobi National Park. It planned and executed a series of peaceful protests and legal actions against the SGR passing through Nairobi National Park. Despite the railway having been built through the park, our actions helped elevate the railway throughout the park allowing wildlife and visitors to pass unimpeded beneath the tracks..Campaign Against the Nairobi Animal Orphanage Development
Nairobi National Park is facing a proposed Animal Orphanage and parking lot development that would turn protected habitat into a commercial zone. FoNNaP has filed a legal petition challenging it, citing lost wildlife habitat, a poorly done Environmental Impact Assessment, and a breach of the area's protected status. Over 4,600 Kenyans have joined as co-petitioners.
Current Engagements
The SaveNNP Campaign is currently working closely with different partners and the Kenya Wildlife Service to align the proposed Nairobi National Park Management Plan towards measures that protect biodiversity both inside and outside the Park while encouraging sustainable tourism.The campaign regularly takes action against ongoing threats to the park, such as monitoring and reporting incidents of pollution.
Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation
Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Programme
FoNNaP has, for a long time, been supporting the installation of LED predator deterrent systems, often called Lion Lights, in the Athi-Kapiti wildlife dispersal area. The installation of these lights serves to reduce night-time predator attacks on livestock during the night, therefore reducing human-wildlife conflict in the dispersed areas of Nairobi National Park. The flashing lights are installed around livestock enclosures, where they give false alarms of human activity, thereby deterring predators.
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FoNNaP has, for a long time, been supporting the installation of LED predator deterrent systems, often called Lion Lights, in the Athi-Kapiti wildlife dispersal area. The installation of these lights serves to reduce night-time predator attacks on livestock during the night, therefore reducing human-wildlife conflict in the dispersed areas of Nairobi National Park. The flashing lights are installed around livestock enclosures, where they give false alarms of human activity, thereby deterring predators.
One set of Lion Lights costs Ksh. 30,000.If you would like to support this project, visit our donate button and choose Light Lights project on the option menu.
Member Activities
Member Activities
Since its inception in 1995, Friends of Nairobi National Park has been implementing citizen science game counts, tree plantings and park clean-up activities in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service. Game counts occur once every two months by our members, who are paired and each given a block within the park to record wildlife numbers during the exercise.
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Game counts inform researchers on wildlife trends at both Kenya Wildlife Service and FoNNaP. The clean-up activity ensures the park is free of plastics and any other solid waste that might affect the biological diversity inside the park.
Please review Nairobi National Park wildlife trends over the years as determined by the game-count data. (Link accessed only with a membership number)To participate in any of the above activities, one needs to be a member of FoNNaP. Please visit the membership page. and join FoNNaP. Thank You.
Education
Education
Bringing students into NNP from around Nairobi and surrounding communities serves to instill in future generations both an environmental awareness and a stewardship of Kenya’s natural heritage. Our children are the future of the survival of Kenya’s wild parks and reserves.
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We have taken students from schools in local communities, informal settlements as well as established schools in the heart of Nairobi.
We are grateful to Hillcrest, Banda, and Brookhouse schools for their donations to support our educational programs.
FoNNaP also holds educational programs for the general public like our recent Snake Talk at the AFEW Giraffe Center. In the past we have had workshops and talks on subjects ranging from invasive species to endangered species.